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Review and Herald, Vol. 92, No. 52.

Nearing Home

Review and Herald

Oct 21, 1915

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Oct 21, 1915

Nearing Home

By Worthie Harris Holden

Worthie Harris Holden
What matters that the waves in fury lash The rock whereon we stand? What matters that the sound of saber clash Resounds through all the land? The wild beasts prowling in the thicket nigh Cannot affright us, nor the ominous sky Awake our fears.
Across the flood betwixt us and our home The city bright déscry; Its light gleams out upon the water’s foam From glittering turrets high. The waves will part, and we in triumph tread The firm, dry rock upon the river bed. So banish tears.
Sing hallelujah for God’s wonder-grace, And never murmur more; Rejoice in victory that rides apace,— We tread the final shore! No Pisgah would we change for Israel’s view; Faith yields to sight, and fainting hopes renew, For home appears.
Portland, Oregon.

The Holy Land a War Camp

By L. L. C.

WAR has invaded even the land where lived the Prince of Peace, according to the following news item, which appeared in the Washington Herald of October 11:—
PARIS, OCTOBER 10.—The Turks have transformed the Holy Land into a huge military training camp, according to refugees who have arrived at Alexandria. All the convents in Jerusalem are now barracks, and thousand-odd recruits daily are drilled on the Mount of Olives and Samaria Plain by German officers. Immense targets have been placed on Mt. Golgotha, the spot where the crucifixion took place, to serve in artillery practice to test the effect of high explosives.
L. L. C.

Women Urge Larger Navy

By L. L. C.

A WOMAN'S section of the Navy League of the United States was recently organized, and within the past few weeks 25,000 women have joined. It is expected that the number will be increased to at least 50,000 before the end of the present year.
Among the women who have come out for a strong navy are Miss Mabel Boardman, of the American Red Cross; Mrs. George Dewey, wife of the admiral; Mrs. William Cumming Story, president general of the Daughters of the American Revolution; Mrs. Daisy McLaurin Stevens, president of the Daughters of the Confederacy; Mrs. Genevieve Clark Thompson, daughter of the Speaker of the House; Mrs. John A. Logan, Mrs. Medill McCormick, of Chicago, Mrs. Craig Biddle, Mrs. Herbert Shipman, Mrs. Henry C. Frick, Mrs. Moncure Robinson, Miss Julia Marlowe, Mrs. George D. Widener, Mrs. W. Bayard Cutting, Mrs. Elbridge T. Gerry, Mrs. Vincent Astor, Mrs. Peter Goelet Gerry, Mrs. Frederick W. Vanderbilt, Mrs. John Hays Hammond, and Mrs. Willard H. Brownson.—New York Times, Oct. 10.
It seems increasingly plain as the weeks go by that the United States is entering upon a period of great preparation for war. While from the human standpoint this may seem wise and necessary, to the student of prophecy it is but another indication that the great battle of Armageddon is approaching.
L. L. C.

Buddhist Propaganda in China

By L. L. C.

THE Buddhist leaders, especially the progressives, contend that the propagation of religion in China has been monopolized too much by Christians. The number of Japanese missionaries sent to China by the Buddhists has now been increased, and the campaign for further missionary work is fully under way. The movement is frankly explained as both religious and political. Japan has apparently come to the realization that her missionaries can accomplish much in spreading the influence of Japan in China and in impressing in a friendly way the desires of the Japanese to increase their prestige there. This movement should awaken us to the need of greatly strengthening our own work in China immediately.
L. L. C.

Preparing for War

By L. L. C.

EVIDENCES are visible on every hand that our country is entering upon a new phase in her history. This country has in the past made practically no preparation for war. The present situation in the world, however, is such as to make it plain that this nation will not be able in the future to escape the calamities which war brings. Feeling that these calamities will be less if the nation is prepared for war, the statesmen of this country are urging that the efficiency of the army and navy be increased.
The New York Times of September 21 reported that Secretary Daniels is expecting to receive plans for a new submarine. On another page of the same paper, it was reported that the first of the navy's fleet of dirigible balloons is now practically completed. It is probable that the subject of national defense will be one of the most important questions considered at the next session of Congress. L. L. C.

The South American Plague

By J. L. C.

ANTHRAX has a third victim in New York. This is the dreaded sheep and cattle disease of South America, but the virus may be brought to human beings by an insect. There is no remedy known to science. Within three weeks, according to a news item appearing in the public press Monday, October 11, three cases of this strange disease have come to the attention of physicians, and it is feared by some that a fatal epidemic may invade New York and its environs.
J. L. C.

Casualties in the Present War

By L. L. C.

In an address, given October 7, before the members of the New York State Historical Association, Brig. Gen. Francis Vinton Green, U. S. A., retired, made public the following conservative minimum figures which he had compiled from the best available data as to the casualties in the present war:—
KILLED WOUNDED MISSING
Gr. Britain 86,000 251,000 55,000
France 400,000 700,000 300,000
Russia 500,000 800,000 900,000
Italy 5,000 15,000 5,000
Belgium 25,000 40,000 15,000
Serbia 20,000 40,000 10,000
Totals 1,036,000 1,846,000 1,285,000
Germany 600,000 1,000,000 300,000
Austria 400,000 700,000 700,000
Turkey 30,000 80,000 20,000
Totals 1,030,000 1,780,000 1,020,000
When considering these figures one cannot but wonder how long the awful slaughter can go on.
L. L. C.

The Holy Name Societies

By L. L. C.

THE Roman Catholics have in many places banded themselves together in what are called Holy Name Societies. Sunday, October 10, 19,000 members of the Holy Name Societies of Baltimore and Washington marched in parade in the latter city. In commenting upon the Holy Name Society, Dr. McKim, of the Church of the Epiphany, is reported to have said in a sermon that the desire to combat the habit of blasphemy is “the excellent object of the millions [of Catholics] banded together for that purpose, and may God bless their efforts.” It is a little hard for a Protestant to understand just why Roman Catholics should feel it necessary to organize these societies among their own church members. One would suppose church membership would suffice to meet the purpose of these societies. Parades such as the one recently held in Washington, offer opportunity for that display which Roman Catholics enjoy.
L. L. C.

At Somabula

By W. A. S.

EVERY one felt that we had a good general meeting for the district of the Somabula Mission, in the Matabele country, northeast of Bulawayo. It was good to see the people come in from north and south and east and west, along those footpaths that run across veldt and through bush over all of Africa. The people from some of the outschools came singing as they journeyed, the sound of a familiar hymn signaling the approach of a company before ever its vanguard appeared in sight.
Really it does touch the heart strangely—these processions, single file, marching in from the wilds to the time of the good old advent hymns which have been translated into the Sintebele tongue.
The themes in our meetings had been the essentials of the message, the preparation to meet Jesus, and the call of God to full surrender and personal victory as a first step in the finishing of the work in Matabeleland. The same Holy Spirit that convicts our hearts was there working in the same divine way on Matabele hearts. There was a revival, new surrenders, and some who had fallen away came back again, to the joy of all. We thanked God that among these latter was Mamo, formerly a teacher, but for several years a wanderer from the right way. He it was who years ago, when this mission was first planted, came to ask that he might be taught the way of salvation, as he had been told in a dream that the white man had “the words of God” for him.
As I listened to the testimonies and saw the visible signs of the working of divine grace in these hearts, I thought to myself, How like a blessed Sabbath of revival in regions of even greater light and privilege. “There is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” And in looking to Jesus there is no difference. He is the same blessed Saviour to all who call upon him.
One thing impressed Philipp, a teacher. “Think of it, Fundesi,” he said to Brother John de Beer, the superintendent; “here comes a new teacher, from away in America. We listen to what he preaches, and he has preached the same things that we have been taught in Africa.”
This was the thought that impressed Philipp, who has found the truth and the Saviour in Matabeleland. It is the one advent message sounding in all the world today; and it is bringing forth the same fruit in the hearts that receive it.
This mission is pushing its work outward. At the present time, doubtless, the brethren are completing a mission building a hundred miles northward, on the Shangani River, which runs into the Zambesi. Here Brother George Hutchinson has been living alone in the wilds, and a good work is under way. As it is a specially unhealthful region, Brother Hubert Sparrow has joined the Somabula staff, to alternate with Brother Hutchinson in holding the fort on the Shangani.
Still the grass is growing round the forsaken idol tree at Shangani, they tell me. Formerly the ground round about was beaten bare by the feet of the worshipers. Now the people have heard of the God of heaven through our missionaries, and the grass is growing high about the sacred shrine. It is but a symbol of the upspringing of the fruits of righteousness in many barren hearts as our workers sow the good seed of the kingdom.
W. A. S.

The Test of Religion

By F. M. W.

The real test of a man's religion is not found in his profession, in his mental assent to some system of doctrine; it is not found necessarily in his attendance upon the service of the church, in his observance of ordinances and ceremonies. The real test is found in his daily life. A man's wife, his children, his neighbors, are much better able, ordinarily, to tell whether or not he is a Christian, than the president of the conference, or the elder of the church. These latter see him only on special occasions—at the Sabbath service, at the conference meeting, where he expects to act religiously; but those who have daily business dealings with him, or are shut up with him year after year within the four walls of his home, are able to form a much truer estimate of the genuineness of his faith and of his practical Christian experience.
Some years ago we were invited by a sister whose husband was not a believer, to visit her home. She longed for her husband's conversion, and wondered why he did not yield to the influence of the gospel. The hour spent with the family at dinner, while we listened to the criticisms of our sister against the elder of the church, the president of the conference, and witnessed her impatient bearing toward her children, readily answered the question, in our mind, as to why her husband had not yielded himself to God.
A religion that is put on for public occasions, that expresses itself in the observance of forms and ceremonies and ordinances, but fails under the wear and tear of daily experience, is not religion at all. Let us not permit the enemy of our souls to lead us into the belief that we are accepted of God because we have been baptized, joined the church, and are observing the seventh day as the Sabbath, when our hearts are filled with bitterness, with envy, with evil surmisings, and when we give unbridled rein to our evil natures.
Fellowship with God is more than a profession. It means the enthronement of Christ within the heart's citadel; it means the casting down of imaginations and the bringing of the thoughts into captivity to the Master; the purifying of the heart from the dross of envy, jealousy, and hatred; it means the same sacred regard for principle and right in the silent recesses of the heart as it does in the outward actions. This is an experience which must be wrought into the life of each one. How greatly we need to cultivate true, genuine heart religion.
When we can come so near to God that we will serve him because we love him, that we will give up our way and choose his way because we fear that to do otherwise would bring grief to the heart of our dearest Friend; when those requirements which before have appealed to us as duties become privileges, even though they may entail pain and suffering, because we do them for the One we love, this is fellowship; this is the sweet communion to which Christ invites us. Entering into it we shall find joy and peace and love, which are the true fruits of the indwelling Spirit.
F. M. W.

Why We Should Not Criticize

By L. L. C.

THERE is nothing that will sooner sap one's spirituality than indulging in a critical spirit. Overmuch attention to the faults of others not only causes bitterness of heart and loss of friends, but also causes us by beholding to become, to a certain degree, like those whom we criticize. “By beholding we become changed” is the law of the spiritual realm.
In Christ's Sermon on the Mount another reason why we should not judge others is given: “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.” Matt. 7:1, 2.
At the first glance this may seem to be somewhat at variance with the statement, found in the twentieth verse of the same chapter, “By their fruits ye shall know them.” It is right for us to form opinions concerning people, but it is wrong for us to set ourselves up as judges of other men, or to harbor a censorious spirit toward others.
“Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” Rom. 14:4. Praise be to God, who is able to make our neighbor stand.
It is so natural for us to notice our own faults when they occur in others, that if we examine ourselves we shall find the truth of Rom. 2:1: “Therefore thou art inexcusable, O man, whosoever thou art that judgest: for wherein thou judgest another, thou condemnest thyself; for thou that judgest doest the same things.”
Our judgment of one another often proves a stumblingblock to some one to whom it is repeated. “Let us not therefore judge one another any more: but judge this rather, that no man put a stumblingblock or an occasion to fall in his brother's way.” Rom. 14:13. This gives us another reason for not criticizing our brethren.
James, in his epistle, the fourth chapter and the twelfth verse, gives us another reason: “There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?” James 4:12. Only he who gave the law can judge how it should be kept. Besides, the keeping of God's law is a spiritual matter; for Christ has made it plain that his law deals with the motives. If a man hates his neighbor, he breaks the commandment “Thou shalt not kill.” No man is qualified to judge of any one's motive save his own.
There is a time for all things, but the present is not the time of judgment. Paul says: “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the hearts: and then shall every man have praise of God.” 1 Cor. 4:5.
Let us not bring discouragement therefore into our own hearts or into the hearts of others by doing that against which God has warned us in his Word.
L. L. C.

The Bible Sabbath

By W. A. S.

“And he answered and said, Every plant, which my Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.” Matt. 15:13.
The scribes had come to Jesus with the complaint,—
“Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders?”
Jesus answered them with another question,—
“Why do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition?”
They had thought that Christ was introducing novelties, preaching new things, contrary to established church custom and practice. He showed them that really he stood for the old and established things of God’s Word, and that their own religious customs, however old, were really the novelties, without divine authority. He said,—
“In vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
And finally he added the words of the text,—
“Every plant, which my Heavenly Father hath not planted, shall be rooted up.”
Let the principles be applied to the question of Sabbath observance. Sometimes in our day those who preach the word of God regarding the abiding holiness of the seventh-day Sabbath are accused of preaching new doctrines, contrary to the traditions and customs of the church. But really, the observance of Sunday, the first day, is the innovation; the seventh-day Sabbath is of ancient foundation.
Which of these two institutions has our Heavenly Father planted? It is possible to ascertain to a surety; for every plant of his planting, every doctrine of his truth, will be found rooted in the Holy Scriptures. 2 Tim. 3:16, 17.

Is the Seventh-Day Sabbath a Plant of Our Heavenly Father’s Planting?

THE OLD TESTAMENT RECORD

1. From the Beginning.
When the Creator made the earth and man upon it, he made the seventh day of the weekly cycle his holy Sabbath:—
“Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them. . . . And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Gen. 2:1, 3.
To sanctify is to set apart, and so the day made holy and blessed by God was set apart for man. Then it was, as Jesus said, that “the Sabbath was made for man.” Mark 2:27. Here the Sabbath institution was planted at the beginning of the world.
2. At the Exodus.
The people of Israel, in their bondage in Egypt, had fallen away from the knowledge of God and become corrupted by the idolatrous worship of Egypt. Hence, as the Lord called them out to be his people, he tested their loyalty to his law by observing how they regarded his holy Sabbath:—
“Then said the Lord unto Moses, Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a certain rate every day, that I may prove them, whether they will walk in my law, or no.” Ex. 16:4.
So through the forty years the Lord sent the manna for them to gather on the six working days, withholding it on the Sabbath. (And this scripture shows that the Sabbath was a part of God’s law before he spoke that holy law from Sinai.)
3. At Sinai.
When the time came that the Lord would speak his holy law from heaven, the eternal foundation of his moral government, the Sabbath precept was enshrined in the heart of it:—
“Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the Sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man servant, nor thy maid servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day, and hallowed it.” Ex. 20:8-12.
4. Through Israel’s History.
Sabbath keeping was the great mark of loyalty to God. When Israel fell into idolatry, they “observed times” (2 Kings 21:6), doubtless such heathen festivals to the sun god and other deities as were common among the idolatrous nations. These observances of other days meant Sabbath breaking. (“Neither shall ye . . . observe times. . . . Ye shall keep my Sabbaths.” Lev. 19:26-30.) The Lord had promised Jerusalem,—
“If ye diligently hearken unto me, saith the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but hallow the Sabbath day, to do no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, . . . and this city shall remain forever.” Jer. 17:24, 25.
The divine pleading was slighted, and Jerusalem’s fall and the Babylonish captivity came as the result of disregard of God’s holy day.
Thus throughout the inspired record of the Old Testament the seventh-day Sabbathappears as a plant of the Heavenly Father’s own planting.

IN THE NEW TESTAMENT

5. The Example and Teaching of Jesus.
(1) It was his “custom” to worship on the seventh day. Luke 4:16.
(2) Jesus, who himself made the Sabbath at creation (John 1:3), taught that it was “made for man,”—for the human race,—and declared, “The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Mark 2:27, 28. It is, therefore, “the Lord’s day.” Rev. 1:10.
(3) He did on the Sabbath only that which was “lawful,” or according to the law of God’s holy day. Matt. 12:12.
(4) He kept his Father’s commandments throughout his earthly life. John 15:10.
(5) And, giving instruction regarding events to take place many years after his ascension, he showed that he expected his followers to continue prayerful regard for the holy Sabbath. “Pray ye,” he commanded, “that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the Sabbath day.” Matt. 24:20.
6. Among New Testament Disciples.
(1) The women, after the crucifixion, “rested the Sabbath day according to the commandment.” Luke 23:56.
(2) Inspiration says that the apostle Paul’s custom was to preach the gospel publicly Sabbath after Sabbath. Acts 13:14; 16:13; 17:1, 2; 18:4. When the Gentiles of Antioch heard the gospel preached by the apostle one Sabbath, they “besought that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.” Acts 13:42.
(3) Throughout the New Testament, written years after Christ’s ascension, the Holy Spirit, speaking of the seventh day, calls it “the Sabbath” (upward of fifty times). “Sabbath” means rest; therefore when the Holy Spirit, in the Christian age, calls the seventh day the rest day, it must infallibly be the day of rest for Christians, the Christian Sabbath.
In the Levitical or sacrificial ordinances of the sanctuary services there were annual sabbaths and feasts, associated with meats and drinks and ceremonial observances. But in appointing these the Lord specifically separated between them and the one and only weekly Sabbath, which was from the beginning. “These are the feasts of the Lord,” he said, “beside the Sabbaths of the Lord.” Lev. 23:37, 38.
These annual festivals and sabbaths, like all the ordinances of the Levitical service, were shadows of things to come, and found their fulfillment in the great Sacrifice of Calvary. Col. 2:16, 17.
But the Sabbath of the Lord was made blessed and holy by God at the creation, before sin had entered the world, before any sacrificial or shadowy service was instituted to point to a coming Redeemer. It is a fundamental and primary institution, a part of the moral order of God’s government for man, the same as the obligations set forth in all the ten commandments.
And Inspiration declares the eternal perpetuity of the blessed Sabbath day in the future home of the saved when the prophet describes the felicity of the redeemed as from month to month, and “from one Sabbath to another,” all flesh shall come to worship before the Lord. Isa. 66:23.
Thus we find the seventh-day Sabbath a plant of the Heavenly Father’s planting, rooted deep in all Holy Scripture, and abiding eternally in the world to come.
W. A. S.
(To be concluded)

Rest for the Weary

By MRS. LUELLA L. HARMON

MRS. LUELLA L. HARMON
Hasten, hasten, hasten! O how tired we are! As we go, we hear the sweet songs of the birds, and should like to stop for just a few moments to listen. We pass the beautiful flowers by the wayside, and long to linger to admire and gather them. We see the love hunger in the little faces, the aged faces, and many other sad countenances, which makes us long to stop and speak words of cheer to each one; but we must hasten on.
We had scarcely greeted yesterday, when we had to bid her a hurried adieu, and welcome today. Today “the sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to his place where he arose,” and we must be ready for tomorrow. Time, O Time! why dost thou never wait?
The bird in its long flight waits to rest. The fastest train waits for fuel and passengers. The great ocean steamer waits. Everything except time may wait sometime, somewhere; but Time never tires, never fails, never waits, but hastens on and on forever.
Look backward, you with the white hair and wrinkled face. It seems almost but days, instead of years ago, when you sat within your mother’s arms and heard her sweet songs and stories. “Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity.”
Do you wonder that the psalmist said to God, “For a thousand years in thy sight are but as yesterday when it is past, and as a watch in the night”? Is it strange that the apostle Peter warns us thus, “But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day”?
Ye tired and weary ones, worn with the work and trials of this life, tossed to and fro like a bark in the gale, often does your soul cry, “Oh that I had wings like a dove! for then would I fly away, and be at rest.” Oftentimes you wonder why Jesus does not give the rest he has promised to the weary. You are looking for the wrong kind of rest, weary pilgrim.
Labor? — Yes, labor! Let us continue to hasten on, for we are laborers together with God. “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few; pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth laborers into his harvest.” “And let us not be weary in well-doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.”
Let us sow bountifully, for “he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully.” Work on! Work “while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work.” And then when the night is come and work is finished, our Father will send for us to come home to the rest he has prepared for us, and he will make us all clean; cleanse us from all the grime, sin stains, and infirmities of earth. He will give us pure, white robes and golden crowns, and invite us to the marriage supper, and “blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Then shall you rest where “there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.” There you may wait to listen to the songs of the birds and admire beautiful flowers throughout endless ages.
But while in this earth, where men hate, fight, and kill one another; where the miser hoards his wealth while the poor beg for bread; where the husbandrails at the wife, and the wife nags at the husband, and the children dishonor the parents; where the drunkard reels to his loathsome hovel; where death reigns, and the millions of mourners weep, there shall be unrest and weariness. But in the hearts of those weary from the labor for souls, there is a peace and joy that the world neither gives nor takes away.
Rejoice, weary pilgrim, rejoice! We are nearing the beautiful land of Canaan, where we shall dwell evermore! “Wherefore, beloved, seeing that ye look for such things, be diligent that ye may be found of him in peace, without spot, and blameless.”

Sometimes

SOMETIMES in life we wonder why The heart must ache, the lips must sigh; Why disappointments cross our way, To thwart the hopes we hold today. Ah, soul, the Father hath his plan, Beneath the ways we cannot scan, And ever shall his purpose be Worked out for good to you and me If we will wait.
To know that through the strain and stress Of human hearts, when burdens press; To know that when life holds care, The Son of God, the Christ, is there, Will give us faith for paths of night, Will change the darkness into light, Along the way.
— Selected.

Importance of Secret Prayer

By A. C. ANDERSEN

A. C. ANDERSEN
“He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.” Ps. 91:1.
THE secret of power with God is prayer. The secret of power to win others is prayer. Prayer is said to be more important than preaching. He who cannot come face to face with God cannot with any helpfulness come face to face with his fellow man. Prayer is the key that unlocks heaven. Prayer is asking God for what we need. And what is our greatest need today? Is it not the power of the Holy Spirit? And has he not told us to ask for rain “in the time of the latter rain,” and assured us that it shall be given? Did not the Saviour say: “If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?”
Is it not true that we are barren and unfruitful? Is there not a sense of poverty in individual as well as church life? And why is it?—Because, as Cortland Myers says, “we have been emphasizing money and methods and men in the kingdom of God, while the secret of power has either been forgotten or sadly neglected.” Have we not been looking more for men of great ability, men of means, and such as can speak with the tongue of angels, than for men of prayer, men of meekness, men of faith?
“However large may be a man’s claim to knowledge and wisdom, unless he is under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, he is exceedingly ignorant of spiritual things. He needs to realize his danger and his inefficiency, and to place entire dependence upon the One who alone is able to keep the souls committed to his trust, able to imbue them with his Spirit, and to fill them with unselfish love for one another.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. IX, page 146.
“All who occupy responsible positions need to learn the lesson that is taught in Solomon’s humble prayer. They are ever to remember that position will never change the character or render man infallible. The higher the position a man occupies, the greater the responsibility he has to bear; the wider will be the influence he exerts, and the greater his need to feel his dependence on the wisdom and strength of God, and to cultivate the best and most holy character. Those who accept a position of responsibility in the cause of God should always remember that with the call to this work God has also called them to walk circumspectly before him and before their fellow men. . . . Position never will give holiness and excellence of character.”—Id., pages 282, 283.
The shut door is a striking figure used by Christ. To shut the door of the heart, and turn the key and keep out worldly thoughts, the desire for dress, the clamors of appetite, and all other sins which crowd the secret chambers of the soul, is the first step into the real presence of Christ. The next step is to open the portals of the heart and let Jesus come in and cleanse the soul temple. Shut the door and hold sweet communion with him. “It is only in this privacy we can find God. Strange and yet true, he is everywhere, but only found in a real sense behind the closed door. . . . We must give him a life of service and obedience before he can give us the object of our desire. Blessing is never first; surrender and service are always first. It is fatal to attempt to reverse the order. The first thought must be thy glory; the first expression must be, I am thine. The glory of God can come through our enlarged vision, our exalted ideals, our purified desires, our holy motives. Prayer is answered according to our preparation to receive. The spiritual qualities, the result of Christ’s teachings, must precede the answer to our requests. The basket must be ready for the fruit. The cup must be in the hand on the way to the fountain. The heart must be in readiness to become the receptacle for God’s best gifts. Every desire and need demands a qualification in the man to receive its answer. We must be ready to take before the goodness of God can give.”—Myers.
Now is the time to humble ourselves before God, and make an earnest effort to empty the soul temple of all rubbish—all envyings, all jealousies, all suspicions, all faultfindings. “Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded. Be afflicted, and mourn, and weep: let your laughter be turned to mourning, and your joy to heaviness. Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.”
“The Lord speaks: enter into your closet, and in silence commune with your own heart; listen to the voice of truth and conscience. Nothing will give such clear views of self as secret prayer. He who seeth in secret and knoweth all things, will enlighten your understanding and answer your petitions. Plain, simple duties that must not be neglected will open before you. Make a covenant with God to yield yourselves and all your powers to his service.”—Testimonies for the Church, Vol. V, page 163.
It is now high time to lay hold of the arm of God, and with David say, “It is time for thee, Lord, to work: for they have made void thy law.”
“Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar, and let them say, Spare thy people, O Lord, and give not thine heritage to reproach.”
We should be more earnest, our zeal more fervent, for our perils are greater now than ever before. “I entreat you who fear the Lord to waste no time in unprofitable talk or in needless labor to gratify pride or indulge the appetite. Let the time be spent in wrestling with God for your ministers. Hold up their hands as did Aaron and Hur the hands of Moses.”—Ib.
“The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.”
Boulder-Colorado Sanitarium.

The Faith of Jesus

By W. E. HANCOCK

W. E. HANCOCK
THE faith of Jesus is an experience accompanying the act of keeping the commandments of God. It is not sufficient to have faith in Jesus. We find many believers in Christ: it is safe to say that today the whole civilized world has more or less faith in him. But the apostle John in holy vision saw a people who had “the faith of Jesus;” and these had the patience of the saints and kept the commandments of God. Rev. 14:12.
This is not a fanciful distinction. Faith or belief in Christ may mean nothing more than an intellectual assent to the facts relating to the historical Christ; but “the faith of Jesus” is an experience affecting the life of the one who possesses that faith. It is the experience by which we are adopted into the family of God as his sons, joint heirs with Christ.
Sometimes we meet those who claim to have so much faith in Christ that they feel released from all obligations of obedience to God’s commandments. One said to me, “Your doctrine of keeping the law for salvation denies faith in Christ.” I replied, “Our doctrine does not teach any one to keep the law for salvation, neither will ‘faith in Christ’ save one; but ‘the faith of Jesus’ and obedience to God’s law go together.” Faith in Christ may lead to great religious movements, the building of great churches and institutions, and a great zeal for the kingdom of Christ on earth, all of which have their place in the Christian church; but “the faith of Jesus” is the vital bond of union with Christ, and the seed which carries with it, and in it, the germ developing finally into complete obedience to God’s law.
Jesus denounced unsparingly the class of believers whose faith in God is such that when the hungry ask for food, they can reply, “Depart and be filled;” and can say to the naked, “Be warm.” With such he will profess no acquaintance. In other words, “faith in Jesus” may abound under the cloak of hypocrisy, but “the faith of Jesus” expresses itself in humble obedience to God’s commandments and good works toward our fellow men.
There is another way in which “faith in God” assumes too much and presumesupon the mercy of God. Dr. Pierson tells of a conversation with a man who said, “Well, I have faith in God; and I believe I am willing to take my chances with him.” To this, Dr. Pierson promptly replied, “You can safely take your chances with God only on God’s own conditions.”
Continue reading: What Is Man?